Chapter 138 Looking for the Real Person
When people knew that Master Lu had disappeared, the entire city of Bianjing fell into a very strange state.
Everyone wants to discuss this, but in fact, not many people discuss it in public. Even if someone occasionally discusses it, they will end the topic under the strange gazes of people around them.
Just because the public doesn’t discuss it doesn’t mean the official community doesn’t discuss it.
The disappearance of Lu Sen was not just a matter of one person being missing from the imperial court in Bianjing City; it also brought about a very strong chain reaction.
For example, without the supply of immortal fruits, the physical fitness of civil and military officials began to gradually decline and returned to their original state.
The Rejuvenation Banner was left outside the city of Xingqing Prefecture, so many patients began to go there, including some seriously ill dignitaries.
At the same time, people in Bianjing City no longer had the intense or brisk music of "morning bells" in the morning, nor the fairy shadow play that they could see almost every evening.
"The taxes collected by the Salt and Iron Bureau this month are 30% less than last month." It was another morning court session. Bao Zheng bowed and continued, "At first, I thought someone was corrupt, but later I found out that it was because the tax revenue every night dropped significantly. Without the Xianjia shadow play, the people in the city went out less at night, and there was less business, especially in the big restaurants, so the taxes collected were naturally less."
"Since there is nothing fishy about this matter, let's put it aside for now." Zhao Zhen stroked his forehead and looked into the crowd. He searched for the Prince of Runan but couldn't find him. He was quite disappointed and asked, "My dear ministers, does anyone have any news about Master Lu?"
No one spoke.
There were many people in the court, but it was so quiet, as if no one had come.
Zhao Zhen exhaled, and said in a disappointed tone: "Is my dear Li Huairen here?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Since he didn't attend the court, let him resign on his own." Zhao Zhen said unhappily.
Li Huairen was the official surnamed Li who had previously tried hard to "impeach" Lu Sen.
At this moment, he was sitting in the living room of his home, watching the dead leaves floating in from the backyard from time to time, swirling and falling to the ground.
A month ago, he was full of energy and made several suggestions, and finally pulled Lu Sen down from the position of military supervisor. He thought that after he returned to Beijing, his official position would definitely be stripped, and then he would be able to vent his anger.
Li Huairen's involvement in Lu Sen was nothing more than revenge.
Because the immortal fruit that Lu Sen gave out did not include his share.
Actually, there was such a thing at the beginning, but one time when Yang Jinhua delivered the fairy fruit, the official named Li stood in the distance and spoke in a flowery way to her.
He thought Yang Jinhua couldn't hear, but who knew that Yang Jinhua was well versed in martial arts and had sharp eyesight.
Perhaps in his own opinion, this was not a very extraordinary teasing, he just said: "Lu Yangshi is really extremely beautiful, which makes people's hearts flutter."
But in Yang Jinhua's view, it was an insult.
Besides, at that time Yang Jinhua had just been married to Lu Sen for only a few days, and she was still at a stage where she would feel extremely shy even when being intimate with her husband. When someone said that behind her back, she was very restrained for not losing her temper and killing someone.
After that, Yang Jinhua never sent any fruit to the Li family again.
Li Huairen was a doctor in the Salt and Iron Bureau. His official position was neither high nor low. In Yang Jinhua's eyes, he was just an insignificant character.
But he himself doesn't think so. Most people are self-centered. In Li Huairen's view, many people who are not as good as him have obtained the immortal fruit, while he, who is in a high position, has been forgotten. This is Lu Sen's unfairness, his deliberate indifference and disregard.
Then the resentment just accumulated slowly, becoming deeper and deeper, which led to his involvement in Lu Sen's case.
In fact, Li Huairen didn't want to drive Lu Sen away. He just wanted to use this drastic method to get himself back into Lu Sen's sight.
I thought to myself, this way Lu Sen would finally look at me straight in the eye.
After all, I am so upright.
However, he never expected that Lu Sen actually ran away!
Ran!
Now the subsequent backlash of the incident almost entirely fell on him.
The officials and friends he used to be familiar with no longer associated with him, or even spoke to him. Even if he went to visit them, he would always get the same response: My master is not here today, please go back, Doctor Li.
"A bunch of bullies who only care about the weak and fear the strong." Li Huairen snorted, "It's something you all agreed to, but you put all the blame on me. How despicable."
He could only numb himself in this way, otherwise he would not be able to hold on. Now his social activities and network of contacts have almost been completely cut off.
Sitting in the silent hall, listening to the whistling of the north wind outside, he was stunned for a while, and then he saw a thin middle-aged man rushing in from the second entrance of the hall with a dazed look on his face.
Li Huairen pretended to be indifferent and said, "Old Zhang, don't panic. You'll lose face for my Li family."
The middle-aged man named Lao Zhang exhaled a few times, clasped his fists and said hesitantly, "My dear, the court meeting has ended. I heard that... the emperor has stripped you of your official status, and the imperial edict envoy will probably be here soon!"
What!
Li Huairen stood up suddenly, his eyes wide open, then he grabbed his left chest with his right hand, slumped down in the chair, beads of sweat the size of soybeans falling on his face.
In the evening, the news that Doctor Li from the Salt and Iron Bureau had a heart disease spread in a small circle, but there was no news about it after two days.
Now who cares about the life or death of an official ?
The most important thing now is to find Master Lu Sen and invite him back to the capital.
Otherwise, who will supply the fairy fruits and honey?
Especially the older officials, they all pressed harder, and they were just short of asking the government to issue arrest warrants throughout the country.
Of course...it was impossible to issue an arrest warrant, but a bounty list was issued. Anyone who could provide information on the whereabouts of Master Lu would receive a huge reward of one thousand taels of gold.
It is roughly equivalent to 10 million RMB in modern times, and it is just information.
When this news was released, it first confirmed to the world the fact that Master Lu had gone into seclusion, and then made many people excited, especially those wanderers, who tried their best to go deep into the mountains and old forests, dreaming of finding Lu Sen's trace and then becoming rich and powerful.
However... a year passed quickly, and Lu Sen seemed to have disappeared. No matter how hard people looked for him, there was no news of him.
Many people began to give up. After all, Lu Sen was a true land immortal. If he wanted to hide, who could find him?
The wave of searching for Lu Sen gradually faded, and only a few particularly tenacious people were still persisting.
A lot has happened over the past year.
Wang Anshi, together with Zhang Zai and Zhe Jizu, trained troops and built forts around Xingqing Prefecture, turning Xingqing Prefecture into an iron barrel.
He repelled the invasion of Western Xia twice and made great military achievements. Although he was demoted to an official in the southwest after returning to Beijing, everyone knew that within a few years, Wang Anshi would be able to stand in the court again.
After losing Xingqing Prefecture, Western Xia retreated to Xuanhua Prefecture and established its capital.
They also sent envoys several times, strongly demanding that the Song Dynasty return Xingqing Prefecture to them and compensate them with a large amount of silver, otherwise they would go to war.
Bao Zheng repeatedly rejected this proposal and angrily said: From now on, there will be no more ridiculous incidents of the winner paying compensation to the loser in our Song Dynasty .
Bao Zheng was the Privy Councilor and an important official in the Secretariat. If he did not have any objections from other important officials in the Secretariat, even the emperor would find it difficult to change his words when it came to military matters.
He said this to both Western Xia and the officials of the Song Dynasty.
I don't know if he was stimulated by Lu Sen's words "I'm ashamed to associate with cowards like you".
In short, after Lu Sen disappeared, the Song Dynasty court seemed to become a little tougher.
But it's not very obvious.
Facing the Liao Kingdom, there is still a strong sense of fear.
In any case, after Lu Sen disappeared, except for the dignitaries in the capital, there seemed to be no special changes in the entire Song Dynasty.
The songs continue to be sung, the dances continue to be performed, the world is bustling with activity, and it seems that there is peace under the heavens.
A year is neither long nor short, and it is already deep autumn again.
On that day, a large number of people in Hangzhou city crowded on the coastline near the estuary early in the morning. Even though the sea breeze was cold, their enthusiasm remained unabated and everyone was very excited.
Because they had received news from the clipper early on that the fleet that had set out for the "Spice Islands" the year before had returned.
Most people in Hangzhou became excited.
Because when the fleet set out, many people in Hangzhou had "participated in the investment".
Now that the fleet is back, it means their investment will pay off.
There are many more people waiting for work.
When a large number of ships come back, they must unload their cargoes. Isn't it the poor people at the bottom who have to do it?
In this world, people are not afraid of hard work, but they are afraid of having no work to do.
The people on the coastline were bustling about for nearly an hour, and then when the sun was about to rise high in the sky, white sails finally appeared on the horizon.
First, two or three white sails were seen, and then more and more white sails appeared on the sea level, quickly turning into a dense sea of white sails.
After about two incense sticks of time, most of the ships had appeared in people's sight.
Among them, there is a huge square ship that looks particularly conspicuous. As soon as it appears on the sea level, it can be seen clearly. Unlike other ships, they look small on the sea horizon and their outlines can only be barely seen from a very far distance.
Seeing a large number of ships appear, people on the shore shouted excitedly.
Whether or not anyone participated in the 'investment', everyone was excited.
The cheering sounds lasted for more than half an hour, and a large number of ships entered the port, forming a dense and endless array.
Then many small boats poured out from the port and began to help the ships unload their cargoes.
The whole port was bustling with people.
The unloaded spices were transported to Hangzhou city in batches, and then shipped to the north by waterways of various states via the Grand Canal.
Lu Huiqing stood on the balcony, looking at the bustling streets below, and then at the huge square treasure ship in the distance, and sighed: "The divine ship is still there, but the exiled immortal is no longer there."
Now Lu Huiqing is the acting governor of Hangzhou and is temporarily taking over the management of Hangzhou city from Ouyang Xiu.
The fact that he was able to manage the affairs of a state at such a young age was enough to prove how strong his political ability was.
According to subsequent statistics, of the ships that set out for the Spice Islands, only three sank due to old hulls and broken keels; the crew members were all safe and were placed on other ships.
During the process of picking spices, fifteen people died of plague, four died from local poisons, and another thirty-two people voluntarily stayed in the Spice Islands, married local indigenous women, and settled down there.
The number of spices brought back was countless!
There is really no way to count. All the ships were overloaded with several kinds of spices piled on board, mixed together, and smelled so fragrant that they were almost stinky.
Moreover, many spices are transported by private ships and shipped directly inland after unloading, which does not exceed the official measurement at all.
Even so, a large number of ships have been staying at the port, unloading their cargo for a month and have not yet completed their work.
A huge amount of spices entered the Song Dynasty, impacting the previous spice market.
Before, one copper coin could only buy two nutmegs, but now one copper coin could buy twenty nutmegs. The same was true for other spices, and their prices dropped to an outrageous level.
But even so, all the spice merchants who participated in this voyage still made a fortune and woke up smiling in their dreams at night.
Of course, where there is wealth, there will naturally be disputes and even disasters.
On the Qiaoshui River outside the city north of Hangzhou, several gangsters took advantage of the moonlight to intercept a boat, killed all the people on it, and then each of them carried a large bag of spices and fled into the deep mountains and woods by the river.
The amount of spices they carried was equivalent to five times the weight of copper coins.
Once they cross this mountain, they will be able to sell the goods and make a fortune.
The leading gangster, wearing a face scarf, leaped a few times in the woods and mountains, then let out a cry and fell to the ground.
"What's wrong, brother? Are there enemies?"
"How did the stone steps come here?" The leader stepped on the ground and was very surprised: "When I came to this mountain to hide people last year, there was no such mountain road."
He raised the torch and saw that the stone steps were very flat, winding their way to the top of the mountains.
The stone steps are hidden by tall trees and cannot be seen from the foot of the mountain or from a distance.
"Do you want to go up and take a look?" asked a brother next to him.
These people have just killed a few people and are getting very angry. If there are people living deep inside, it seems reasonable to kill a few more to cool down the anger.
The leader's mouth curled up into a sinister smile under his scarf: "It depends on their luck. If they are ordinary people, we will treat them as our own family when we see them. If they are powerful, we will leave quickly. What do you think?"
"good!"
"Listen to big brother!"
Several voices were heard, and several people, each carrying a bag of spices, walked along the stone steps into the mountains.
The stone steps were made very well and were very neat. In addition, the man from the Jianghu walked very fast, so in less than half an incense stick of time, he had reached the middle of the mountain along the stone steps.
Afterwards, I saw a strange place.
In front of us is a square cave entrance in the mountain wall, and next to the cave entrance grows a strange tree.
The trunk is very straight and large, but it does not grow high, only about three meters. Its crown is in the shape of a round umbrella, with many wide leaves, densely packed together, forming a large round cover.
The entire cave entrance was covered tightly, and the night sky could not be seen.
And under the tree, there was a golden fence extending from the cave entrance, enclosing the entire tree and the cave entrance.
Under the tree canopy is a bluestone table and several small stone pillars.
There was a beautiful bird-shaped glass lamp hanging on the branch. Soft light shone through the glass lamp, illuminating the vicinity, but the light was blocked by the surrounding trees and could not reach far.
Only when you get very close can you see the light here.
Under the tree, there were two women sitting on a stone pier playing chess around a stone table. They seemed to have heard the noise and turned their eyes over.
One was an unmarried woman dressed in plain silk. She was very slim and had a very beautiful face.
The other one was a beautiful woman wearing a beautiful green dress and a golden hairpin. She frowned and asked, "Why did Ah Huang let someone in?"
The leader looked at the glass lamp, then at the two women, and was horrified. He immediately shouted, "It's evil. Let's go."
This loud shout immediately woke up several brothers behind him who were beginning to get aroused by lust.
However, it was too late. At some point, a dozen men in black appeared behind them.
